Garry and Nada Sankowsky

Volunteer collectors of herbarium specimens with high quality digital images (vouchered photographs) for various Australian Herbaria, Universities and other scientific institutions. We can supply this service to your organization also. You would need to arrange for all necessary permits and or collecting authorizations. We do not require a fee but request that most expenses be covered. We have a well equipped 4WD and a camper trailer so can get to most places. Feel free to contact us to discuss your ideas or needs in this area.

Our two hectare garden contains one of the largest living collections of Tropical Australian rainforest plants. Almost all of these are collected from the wild and so are of high scientific value.

Many botanists and other scientists from all parts of the world come to study various groups of plants that are growing in our garden; pollination and DNA studies being the most common. Please contact us if you or your organization want to carry out similar studies and we can come to an arrangement re suitable fees. One advantage is that no collecting permits are required. Anyone that has recently applied for collecting permits in Australia will recognize the benefits of this. We cannot provide accommodation but can check out various options for you.Download full plant list. Note: All plant names are not up to date.

We have a very large collection of digital images of plants, most of which have been taken in our own garden, and we offer these free for anyone to use provided you acknowledge the origin. Check out our web site for numerous samples. All images are on a database so within seconds we can determine if a particular plant has been photographed.

Our garden is marked out in ten metre grids and all plants are recorded on a database, showing the location, where collected and when they were planted. Any collections made from a particular plant can be duplicated at any future time. In the garden there are over 9000 plants representing at least 2700 species.

Our main project is the continual upgrading of the Australian Tropical Plants DVD Rom (changed from a CD Rom with Volume 3). Volume 4 is available now. We are now starting to add ferns and orchids to it, as well as replacing any old images with new ones that become available. In the past twelve months large numbers of plants have flowered for the first time in our garden. We put this down to the new soil treatment we are using. See our Downloads page for an article on this method.

NOTE:We spend a lot of time in the field so if we do not respond to your email within a couple of days you can assume we have 'Gone bush'.